Kansas lawmakers took a step Thursday to allow first responders to treat people overdosing on opioids with potentially lifesaving drugs.

The House gave unanimous approval to a bill Thursday and will send it to the Senate for consideration.

Advertisement

Drugs like naloxone, called "opioid antagonists" can stop potentially fatal symptoms of a prescription opioid or heroin overdose.

Under the proposal, people experiencing overdose symptoms could get drugs administered faster. The bill would allow first responders to administer the drugs to people experiencing symptoms. It would also allow pharmacists to provide them to patients and bystanders without a prescription. It would grant immunity from civil and criminal liability in administering the drug. Forty-seven other states have policies increasing access to the drugs.

The proposal comes in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. saw a record 33,000 opioid deaths in 2015. Kansas is not among the states with the highest number of overdose deaths, ranking 36th in the number of such deaths. From 2013 to 2015, the state saw about 330 overdose deaths per year.

Republican Rep. Greg Lakin of Wichita said first responders would be able to treat people at risk of an overdose death on the scene or in transport to the hospital rather than waiting until they get to an emergency room physician.

"We run them to the ER, to the hospital and lose precious time," he said.

Lakin is a physician who introduced the bill in committee.

The House passed the vote with little discussion and with support from Lakin and Lawrence Democratic Rep. John Wilson, ranking minority on the House health committee. Lakin told the House the bill was more necessary than ever because of the availability of strong prescription opioids and strains of heroin.

"People get overcome very quickly, so this is a measure that's needed to save their life," Lakin said.

The Affordable Care Act increased access to treatment programs for addicts, but it's unclear if those programs will remain .

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends increased access to naloxone as a way to decrease overdose deaths. According to its website, since 1999 opioid prescriptions have quadrupled, and so have deaths from overdoses involving prescription opioids and heroin.